Notice that when Christ ate with tax collectors and showed mercy to prostitutes he got to work on them. The unnamed tax collector gave half his possessions to the poor and repaid anyone he had defrauded fourfold. The other tax collector - Thomas - gave up his profession altogether. The prostitute was told to sin no more. The sinful woman who approached Christ was already sobbing out her repentance.
Very Good! This is the whole issue. How can I welcome a sax sex couple, or a divorced and remarried (without annulment) couple, without addressing the impediment to full communion with the Church?
Be very careful here, lest you offend the efforts directed toward love, tolerance and unity!
But don’t you think that this measure is specifically addressing those couples who already come to Mass faithfully for years but not receive Communion? I do. I don’t think this is about us sinless folks forming guards of honour at the Church entrance for people who couldn’t care less about the Church teaching and the Sunday Mass obligation. I’m imagining the ‘welcoming’ or ‘accepting’ that is spoken of, specifically relates to those couples faithfully practicing sans comunion and how things can be made right with the Church in some way for their specific situations.
I think I agree. But, what is not welcoming for that couple in the irregular marriage? The fact that the Church considers they are in a state of mortal sin due to adultery (if they are having relations)? How does the Church make them feel more welcome?
I think this sort of sums it all up here. People need to know that the Church and God loves them but loves them enough to change and not stay in the same place(sin). The problem I see is that people have dulled their conscience and don’t even see what they are doing as sinful. I hear many excuses from well meaning Catholics all the time and most end up saying that they think God will understand them and everyone else is doing it. I think the church is welcoming enough and people need to accept the invitation.
Okay, thank you. Good quote. If marriages can be invalid (which we know is true), is this a change or just a call to be more sleuthy (the art of being a sleuth
) to find impediments to validity? If it were simple, the bishops’ conferences would have agreed.Everything in this world is cyclical, even time. Attendance is up, it’s down It’s to hard, it’s to easy, we are a hard headed people. What is our faith if it changes with the new thought of every generation. If I didn’t believe the faith of our fathers I would not be Catholic. If the theology changes are we not saying, “they got it wrong”. This is nothing new , I’ll have God on my terms, not his, is not new or compassion. The teachings of Jesus Christ have stood the test of time, and will continue to do so.
When the SACRIMENT of Marriage is no longer of man and woman, the Church will be lost. The door to all kinds of perversion are then opened. This is a sin of LUST. I like my devil out in the open for all to see, he is most effective when he works in the quiet.
Not necessarily. As an analogy, Einstein didn’t disprove Newton, he only expanded the theory to include uncommon situations where an observer is moving near light speed. Newton is still valid when velocities are small compared to the speed of light. It’s about develpment, not change. I firmly believe we need to look at the margins and find a way to bring them into full communion. If it involves a change to cannon law I’m okay with it. It’s not up to me and will probalby never happen but I can hope. As Thomas Merton put it, Christianity teaches us to hope in a hopeless situation.
Exactly–and not just entering a church, the same can be said with regards to who is administered Holy Communion. The “rules” are in the missalette and the catechism, but no one is verifying who is following them and who is not and barring people who shouldn’t receive.
Keep in mind you’d only be barred from Communion if you were in a perpetual state of sin. Once the unlawful relationship ends, the person is free to go to Communion (after Confession). Most people won’t give up their unlawful relationships and that is the issue.
I sincerely ask, when does this verse begin to take effect in this Synod? St Paul is clear in his instruction. Although Doctrine is not being changed, Tradition possibly is. As Catholics, we hold Tradition and Doctrine as equally important, they are both part of the Gospel. Is St. Paul instructing not to follow any changes?
I disagree there. Most Church traditions have been abandoned for one thing. And where once marriage separation was taboo, divorce is now widely accepted. Cohabitation and birth control are prevalent. There’s very little mentioned on sin and Hell. And we want more desensitization against sin, especially sexual ones? I suggest it’s not the fault of conservatives that Church attendance has declined.
I’m not a believer in science as my guiding light, especially on Jesus Christ. All knowledge of man has changed or expanded, that does not make it right or wrong, only constantly changing. This life, this existence will come to an end, the alfa and the omega, cyclical. I look to Jesus for my answers in life not man. It has worked ever well for me. Thomas Merton, great man and I hope a Saint someday. Hope can be every illusive if we look in the wrong direction, away from God, and to man for our answer. I think Father Merton would agree with me on that subject.